Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch: A week with the Portland Sea Dogs

Red Sox Prospect Watch features in-person Portland Sea Dogs action

There’s a lot to talk about in this week’s Boston Red Sox Prospect Watch. I went to the Portland Sea Dogs games in-person because they were playing about an hour away from me. There were a ton of takeaways from the games, but I’ll try to not ramble too much during that slide.

As for the other teams – don’t worry, I’m a nerd. So I was watching the other Red Sox MiLB games while at the game, and catching up on them more when I got home.

That was important because there’s a lot to talk about this week. We saw some big-time performances, some promotions, and more.

In the Majors, Boston continues to play pretty solid. The season turnaround has been nice and they’ve gotten some contributions from a few prospects. This week, we saw Josh Winckowski get his second shot in the Majors. He earned his first MLB win thanks to five scoreless innings that saw him give up just four hits and one walk, while striking out three.

Kutter Crawford made another start, but wasn’t able to replicate his success of last time. Four runs in four innings isn’t great. But it was against a stacked St. Louis Cardinals lineup and at least he got through four innings. It’s not like Crawford gave Boston one inning and went on his way.

Jarren Duran has finally gotten a little bit of steady playing time in the Majors this week. He’s given the team a few positives too. Continuing to show off that ridiculous speed to help generate some offense. Speed is something Boston has lacked for years. So whenever he’s in the lineup it definitely adds something to the team.

Red Sox Double-A (Portland)

Okay disclaimer here. I’m going to have a lot of articles over the next week or so about the team. Things I picked up on while I was at the games. This slide is going to remain mostly the same as usual. Don’t want to get things all messy.

Ceddanne Rafaela continues to be that dude. He literally created fans at an away stadium. People would talk when he stepped up to the plate. There’s reason for that too. In 12 games in Double-A, Rafaela is slashing .327/.358/.755 with five doubles, two triples, and four home runs. He’s driven in 12 runs, scored nine more, and stolen a base. His numbers on the year total are somehow even crazier. Superstar.

Pedro Castellanos hits every single ball like it’s the Joker and he’s Batman in that one interrogation scene in Dark Knight (sick reference Hunter, super up-to-date … thanks Hunter). Seriously though, it looks like everything flies off the bat at 200 MPH. He’s also riding a 16-game hitting-streak and suddenly has a .283/.307/.465 slash line with 16 doubles, one triple, and eight home runs. Castellanos has already driven in 42 runs and scored 22 more.

Christian Koss is putting together a really strong year with a .282/.325/.437 slash line. The right-handed hitter has seven doubles, four triples, and six home runs. He’s driven in 37 runs, scored 24 more, and stolen seven bases. Koss has good pop in his bat, and I always thought he had “plus” speed. After watching him in person though that has to get a bump, dude is an absolute BURNER.

Kole Cottam has been getting a lot of bad luck balls lately. Getting good wood on it, but hitting the ball right to someone. Sunday gave the signs of a breakout though. Three hits (two bullets and one bloop) and boy was it good to see one fall. He’s slashing .262/.344/.345 with nine doubles and one home run. Meanwhile, Cottam’s driven in 13 runs and scored 15 more. The defense is great, but that’s for another article.

David Hamilton’s down to a .220/.290/.368 slash line with four doubles, six triples, and five home runs. He’s driven in 20 runs and scored 25 more. The headline with Hamilton is the speed though. And he has 24 steals in 27 attempts so far. If he can get that average and OBP up a little bit, Hamilton’s speed is impossible to deny.

Chris Murphy made two appearances this week, and looked great in both. The home run bit him a bit, giving up three in the 11 innings (and accounting for four of the five runs he allowed). But the left-handed pitcher only gave up 10 hits and three walks in that time, striking out eight. Murph now has a 2.80 ERA, .179 BAA, 1.03 WHIP, and 83 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings pitched.

Jay Groome tossed an absolute GEM this week. The lefty went seven shutout innings, giving up just two hits and four walks while striking out five. A little worrisome that he’s walked four batters in three straight games, but it’s easy to overlook it when he dominates like this. Groome is down to a 3.67 ERA, .221 BAA, and 1.30 WHIP this season. He’s walked 27 batters in 56 1/3 innings but piled up 52 strikeouts as well.

Victor Santos had another great outing this week, giving up two runs over seven innings. The right-handed pitcher boasts a 3.89 ERA, .232 BAA, and 1.05 WHIP on the year. He’s only struck out 54 batters over 74 innings, but limits the walks with just 13.

Jake Thompson had two more scoreless outings this week, and it’s sort of getting ridiculous at this point. The right-handed pitcher has a 0.90 ERA over 20 innings this season. He holds a .159 BAA and a 1.00 WHIP with 23 strikeouts compared to nine walks.

Brian Van Belle made his Double-A debut after a nice stretch in High-A over his last few outings. The right-handed pitcher gave up three runs on three hits in five innings, striking out four batters. His numbers on the year aren’t great but Van Belle does a lot of things right and it’s good to see him getting a serious look.

Red Sox High-A (Greenville)

Bryan Mata made his third rehab appearance and once again looked like an ace. In four innings, the right-hander gave up no runs on one hit and three walks, striking out eight. In nine innings Mata has allowed just one earned run and two hits, racking up 15 Ks. El Idolo is back. It will be exciting to see him get the move up to Double-A soon.

Jacob Webb got the promotion to High-A after some impressive numbers in Low-A. He’s already made two appearances with Greenville this week. In those two games, the righty has yet to give up an earned run. He’s only allowed two hits and two walks, while striking out five.

Shane Drohan lowered his ERA with five innings of three-hit ball. He walked two and gave up three runs, but all were unearned. Meanwhile, he added six more strikeouts to his already sky-high total. The lefty now has a 4.23 ERA, .226 BAA, 1.26 WHIP, and 81 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings pitched.

Matthew Lugo had a massive week that included two doubles and three home runs. The right-handed hitter is slashing .294/.347/.548 with 17 doubles, seven triples, and nine home runs on the season. He’s driven in 39 runs, scored 37 more, and stoles six bases. His added power this year really boosts his status.

Nick Northcut has been mashing home runs all year. The high strikeouts to low walks has been a major issue though. So seeing him rack up six walks in three days was nice. The right-handed hitter is now slashing .231/.303/.560 with eight doubles and 21 home runs. He’s driven in 49 runs and scored 34 more.

Gilberto Jimenez is slashing .276/.324/.417 with 11 doubles, one triple, and five home runs on the year. The switch-hitter has driven in 21 runs and scored 28 more, stealing 10 bases. Jimenez has always been a low-strikeout guy but the Ks have been up this year. He’s limited them in the last few games though so hopefully that’s a trend that sticks around.

Alex Binelas continues to have a really impressive first season in the Red Sox system. The left-handed hitter is slashing .236/.354/.478 with eight doubles, one triple, and 13 home runs. He’s driven in 41 runs, scored 39 more, and stolen eight bases (in eight attempts).

Big Joe Davis has gone on an absolute tear lately. The right-handed hitter is suddenly slashing .257/.322/.552 with one double and 10 home runs on the season. He’s driven in 20 runs and scored 19 more. With just 105 at-bats on the year, he’s averaging a home run nearly every 10 ABs – that’s wild.

Tyler McDonough collected at least one hit in five-of-six games this week. The switch-hitter holds a .244/.336/.406 slash line with 11 doubles, three triples, and seven home runs. He’s driven in 33 runs and scored 39 more, stealing 12 bases. His average has hovered around the same spot all month, so it will be interesting to see if it sees a drastic shift in either direction soon.

Tyler Esplin went 0-for-3 on Sunday but was riding a five-game hitting-streak before that. The left-handed hitter is slashing .255/.343/.394 with seven doubles and three triples in High-A. He’s driven in six runs and scored 15 more. Esplin’s gotten the bump up to Double-A at points this year so if he can put together a nice stretch he might see a more permanent move up soon.

Red Sox Low-A (Salem)

What a STUPID good run Niko Kavadas is on right now. He’s drawn at least one walk in nine-of-the-last-10 games, 18 walks total in that time. That puts him up to 54 walks on the season. Oh and he’s hit seven homers this month with a .375 average. The left-handed hitter is now slashing .279/.456/.570 with 17 doubles, one triple, and 11 home runs. He’s driven in 42 runs, scored 31 more, and stolen one base. There’s absolutely zero reason for Kavadas to be in Low-A anymore.

Blaze Jordan is putting on a show. After that rough first month he’s been torching the ball. The right-handed hitter is up to a .291/.343/.467 slash line on the season. And for anyone worried about his homers (he had three heading into last week), he hit three more this week. Jordan has 18 doubles, two triples, and six home runs now. He’s driven in 37 runs, scored 34 more, and stolen two bases.

Nathan Hickey doesn’t want to be left out of this insane firestorm. The right-handed hitter came back from an injury and immediately hit two homers in a game. He had a great week overall and is now slashing .279/.438/.512 with 12 doubles and six home runs. The catcher has driven in 37 runs and scored 28 more.

Eddinson Paulino is riding a six-game hitting-streak after collecting at least one hit in every game this week. The left-handed hitter threw in a lot of extra-base knocks in there too. Paulino’s numbers have sky-rocketed and he’s now slashing .267/.360/.475 with 18 doubles, eight triples, and five home runs. He’s driven in 32 runs, scored 48 more, and stolen 13 bases.

Marcelo Mayer is in a slump right now, but the overall numbers are still really strong. The left-handed hitter is slashing .275/.362/.481 with 15 doubles and four home runs. He’s driven in 23 runs, scored 19 more, and stolen eight bases in eight attempts. Reminder that he’s only had 131 at-bats in Low-A so far. So don’t panic because a 19-year-old is slumping a bit. But also, this is why he wasn’t called-up to High-A after a hot stretch. Patience people.

Brainer Bonaci draws a lot of walks. He’s walked five times in the last two games and now has 41 on the season. The switch-hitter is slashing .257/.392/.317 with five doubles and three triples. He’s driven in 18 runs and scored 37 more, stealing 10 bases. Okay the power isn’t there but he plays great defense, has good speed, and gets on-base. Can’t complain.

Adenys Bautista has enjoyed a fantastic month of June so far. The right-handed pitcher has tossed 5 2/3 innings over four appearances, and he’s yet to give up an earned run. In fact, he’s only allowed one hit in the month. Bautista is down to a 2.77 ERA, .158 BAA, and 1.19 WHIP on the season. He’s struck out 28 batters over 26 innings of work.

Joey Stock is having a ridiculous month. The right-handed pitcher has made five appearances so far. In those five appearances, he’s given up no runs on two hits and four walks – striking out 14 batters. On the season he now holds a 2.37 ERA, .191 BAA, 1.08 WHIP, and 49 strikeouts in 38 innings.